By the numbers

We rode a total of 857 km over the 13 days of cycling from Prague to Budapest. There were some significant challenges along the way. The first 1/2 of the trip, we climbed close to 4 km (3812 m) in total altitude, the last 6 days only 474 meters. We spent 51 hours in the saddle pedalling, an average speed of 16.8 km/hr over the total distance. 

Aside from the challenges of hill climbing, we had to ride through farm roads that were - for the most part - washed out, the road surface mostly made of 4" - 6" of sticky, gooey mud. The stuff that your tires and wheels sink into. 25 km from our final destination we ran into another cycle path section that was, literally, so slick with mud that it was like riding on ice. We both lost control of our bikes and slid in the muck for what seemed like an eternity. Final score: Mud won both rounds.

We rode 2 ferries to cross the Danube. Take note BC Ferries, this is the passenger seating area ...

But the scenery was great. This photo was taken at the "big bend" in the Danube as it nears Budapest ...

A couple of things (important) to note:

Over the entire route, we saw only 2 bicycle shops. One after Krumlov and a second nearing Budapest. The lesson learned is that riders need to be self-sufficient in more than just repairing flat tires. It's a long, long walk if you break a chain! 

Learn a few words in the language of the country that you are visiting. Contrary to what some guide books will tell you, in most rural villages in a Central Europe (especially in Hungary), English is not spoken nor understood. Russian and German help.

Make the trip about the journey, not the destination. Jude is really good about slowing down and taking in the ride. Peter - he's still learning :-)

The final destination. Looking at "Buda" from the Pest side of the Danube. 

Judy meeting one of the locals.

A final day of walking adventure and discovering Budapest. We have a great apartment close to Parliament that we found through AirBnB. The forecast is cooler than the past week, and no rain in today's weather. A perfect day to be a tourist.

Keep smiling!

Hungarian Rhapsody

Happy Sunday! Today marked our 12th day of riding as we close in on Budapest. Tomorrow we reach the end of our journey, some 900 km from where we started. Our faces, arms and legs are tanned and we're both feeling remarkably awesome!

The last couple of days have been long rides with some major heat. Average temps of 26C, with the daytime highs nearing 32C. We're definitely not complaining after week 1!

Hungary is known for its thermal spas and "wellness centres". When in Hungary, do as the Hungarians do ... This photo is taken from the balcony of our hotel room in Kamarom ...

Somewhere along the route, we lost track of our good luck symbols - the friendly rabbit(s) - but we replaced them with our super friendly Swiss friends, Paul & Werner. We meet up with these two in the most odd places along the route. Their trip is a little longer than ours, from one end of EuroVelo6 in Nantes, to the other somewhere past Bucharest, a journey of close to 4000 km.

We didn't know that when you cycle the Danube, most of the time you're not really all that close to the river. Today became the exception and almost all of today's 82 km and tomorro's finishing ride, will be "up close & personal". After awhile, you run out of superlatives to describe the beauty of the ride. We'll simply say - again - awesome!

Riding the ferry across the Danube ...

Lunch time entertainment. 

We'll post one more blog entry with some final thoughts and, for you stats junkies, with GPS data. If you are considering visiting this part of Europe, whether by bicycle or car, or train or bus, we'd be happy to share our experiences and thoughts with you.

Thanks for reading! Keep smiling. One more day of riding ...

Bratislava - she's a beauty!

Sometimes when you travel in unknown territory, especially when you travel on bicycle, you depend on the reliability of the directional signs. If they're not accurate or, as happens from time-to-time that you miss one, you can add huge kms to an already tired body. We are learning to take lots of extra care when we reach important directional signs but the signs don't always help ... case in point ...

We figured it out and arrived in Bralislava none the worse for wear and just in time for a late lunch which, for Slovakians, was right on time!

Our hotel "Michalska Brana" is located at the historic Michael's Gate in the old city. Bastova Street is considered to be the narrowest and most romantic street of Bratislava. The street itself has quite the history. It was built in 13th and 14th century and in medieval age and for centuries it used to be famous for being a home of the city hangman. Who would think that behind these walls, sits an oasis of calm ...

While touring the impressive St Martin's Cathedral, we learned that between 1536 and 1830, eleven Hungarian kings and queens were crowned at this church. We learned that Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn (amongst others), considered Bratislava home for periods of time. The history of Bratislava goes way back to a Roman times when Marcus Aurelius was emperor and fought back the Germans from the forts (now ruins) here in Bratislava. Cool ... who knew history could be fun too :-)

Today, much of Bratislava is focused on the Danube, tourism and trade. 

We're down to the last 4 days of cycling followed by some well deserved R&R in Budapest. The Surly's have held up well, but with approx. 6000 km on Peter's, it is due for some rehab. A new drive train will be first on the list and likely new hubs and wheels not long after.

The bikes need to be ready for our next adventure, wherever that may be. Stay tuned, keep smiling & keep riding!

Down the Danube we go ...

Not exactly a waltz or a walk in the park, but the Danube makes cycling easy! Before we get to today's adventures, we wanted to share 2 pictures from our day walking around Vienna.

This store is home to some of the finest Italian espresso machines on the market. A cool €1200 or €1300 will set you up with the entry-level model. I have to admit that I was suffering from machiatto envy.

So, what do you do when you don't buy the espresso machine? You have someone else make it for you! Vienna is filled with these little gems, off the tourist map, that houses the great bistro's, private art galleries and outdoor cafe's. Herr Krause suggested the areas that we should spend time visiting.

Today's cycle was along the north bank of the Danube to a town called Orth a.d. Donau, approx. 65 km east of Vienna and our 1/2 way point to tomorrow's destination Bratislava. We found a cute Pension, more of a traditional N.A. B&B than a European Inn. We were welcomed by Martin, a pretty interesting 15-year old who studies at the high school for the arts in Vienna. He tells us that he gets up at 5 am on school days to catch a 6 am bus and arrives at school by 7:30 am. He is a music student (not classical) but plays multiple instruments to support his Rock & Roll and a Southern Blues habit.

A photo of the cycle path along the Danube just west of Vienna. Once we passed through the city, the cycle paths became quite busy with all types of bikes and cyclists. We passed more Viennese in their "natural" state than you could count. Mostly 50 to 70 year olds ...

The view looking east, up the Danube, toward Vienna. We are both feeling sore rears and tired legs, but inspired! Another ~300 km to Budapest which we have allowed 5 days to cover. 

We're all smiles when we are riding! 

Vienna in sunshine

Well, we made it ... To Vienna! We weren't quite sure that it was going to happen without some form of divine intervention. It may have been the black cat that crossed in front of us as we were leaving Mikulov, or it may have been the fields of wind turbines in the distance, either way we knew that we were in for a challenging day of cycling.

As difficult as the ride was at times, we both found it beautiful. We learned early that we couldn't depend on finding restaurants when we needed to fuel up, so before leaving Mikulov we stocked up at the local Coop with buns, cheeses, carrots, peppers, apples and nuts to tide us over until we reached our destination.

Funny thing is, we didn't know where we would end up. Usually we're good for 60 kms before searching out accommodations. By 70 km, we're hitting the desperation button. This ride put us pretty close to 90 km (90% into headwinds) before reaching the edge of Vienna and picking up the very last room available at Hotel Klaus in Wolkersdorf. Sore bodies and major sunburns were relieved somewhat by the warm welcome we received by Herr Klaus himself, the glasses of Austrian beer and dinner that was all about fresh, local asparagus. 

Today was spent walking and walking and eating and eating (and more walking) through the very beautiful Vienna. We took so many photos that the camera battery expired, hence no photos of Vienna in this posting. 

Tomorrow we are back in the saddle and heading toward Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Some call Bratislava the most beautiful city in Central Europe. After Prague and Vienna, we're not sure that's possible! 

A final note to share ... We have been accompanied through most of our ride by rabbits. We're pretty sure that it's not the same rabbit the entire way, but the romantic in us sort of thinks it is. 

Keep smiling and we'll keep riding!

Where are all the people?

We're back on the bikes after taking a "rain day" in Slavonice. I have to admit that a day off in a beautiful hotel room with a big bath tub was worth every Koruna. Early on in today's ride, Jude and I were talking about the weirdness of the silence ... By that I mean for hours on end, through villages and small towns, we saw no one (well hardly anyone), and the lack of any sound -- kids playing, radios blaring, tractors working) -- was disconcerting. Especially given that it is Saturday. We passed parks, tennis courts, soccer fields, farms, churches, schools ... it appeared as though we were in a movie with no other actors ...

Around noon things began to change. We rode into Vranov and happened upon a castle; and people. We rode through town and into a cottage / lake community where we stopped for lunch, and found, more people. (Not too many. A few hearty cottagers and the owner of this little cafe who made awesome soup.)

Around 2 pm and 50 + km into our ride we began to see bits of blue sky, maybe more like light grey. But it was warming up! We were loving our cycle day, riding km upon km through farmland and small villages & towns with - maybe - a car passing us every 30 minutes or so. Once we reached the Podyji National Park, the terrain and countryside changed again. Dramatically, we left fields of canola and found ourselves right in the middle of Morovian wine country.

  

A wine tasting hut on the Greenways bike trail, only accessible by bike or on foot. The next photo shows why ...

The weather is improving. We got to shed the heavy raincoats this afternoon. Tomorrow the prospects for riding in shorts look promising. Soon we leave the Czech Republic and head to Vienna before riding down the Danube to Budapest. One week in and we are just beginning to gain an appreciation for what the Czech people are like and what they have been through since the 1940's. 

More later ... Keep Smiling!

Flirting with Austria

Today we find ourselves in another medieval renaissance city, Slavonice. Getting here was an interesting journey, crossing the border into Austria (for lunch) and then back into the Czech Republic. Most of the buildings in the historic square date from the 14th to 16th centuries, the oldest dating to 1545. The hotel that we are staying in - Besidka (http://www.besidka.cz/main_en.html) was the site of the first privately owned restaurant in Morovia after the end of the Socialist / Soviet period in 1990.  Beautifully restored, the hotel & restaurant are the epicentre of a cultural renaissance featuring the ceramics of Maříž. 

A few interesting oddities to share ...

• 3 out of every 4 dogs we've seen are beagles. Did you hear that Scooter? Most of them are fat though ... 
• This area of Morovia / South Bohemia is surrounded by the National Park "Czech Kanada". Apparently it got it's name because it's colder & gets more precipitation than any other region of the Czech Republic. Hmmm, guess that we should have read this info before cycling through the park and forest. We can now vouch for the wet & cold ...
• You can not find ANYPLACE to buy coffee in villages or towns along our route. There must be a business opportunity here!

Final story for today and one that we missed telling the other night. We were sitting having a beer and watching the hockey game (Czech - Canada) with a nuclear engineer (seriously ... a Soviet trained nuclear engineer! Who knew they really existed.) and sharing our cycling itinerary with him. At the end, when we tell him that we are cycling to Budapest, he looks at us and, in all seriousness and sincerity says ... "Why? You don't own a car?"

Hope that you all have a great Victoria Day long weekend. We'll be thinking of you while we "keep riding and keep smiling".

Czech beauty

Today we enjoyed a shorter 45 km cycle and arrived at the stunning Český Krumlov, one of the most impressive UNESCO World Heritage Sites anywhere and the most important historical artifact in the Czech Republic. If you ever take the opportunity to visit this part of the world ( hello Brian Baehr ), visiting Krumlov is a must!

A view of Český Krumlov

The clouds tell yet another story ... :-)

Bike travel in the Czech Republic has been easy and uneventful (so far). The Greenways bike route system rivals the Dutch, although it's not yet country-wide. Our ride from Trabor to Krumlov (~ 110 km), was 90% on country roads or dedicated bike paths. The other 10% navigating through cities.

We've encountered some interesting weather ... Yesterday we rode through brilliant blue sky into light rain, into heavy rain, followed by hail and then back to sunshine. The rain held off for most of the day today, although we had 2 "rain-delays" staying dry under big trees while the clouds passed.

Tomorrow we are off to Trebon, another relatively short (60 km) ride. Trebon is known for its spas where you get wrapped in peat. Really? We'll let you know how that turns out ...

Keep riding and keep smiling!

Tired feet, smiling faces

We got a little bit of a late start this morning. The hot water burner in the apartment decided to take Sunday off, leaving the shower a little on the frigid side. Our route to Praha Bikes was detoured by 3 or 4 km's as we wound our way around the marathon. Both of these left Oleh a little grouchy with us. After we told him how great he was. How much we appreciated his service and, all the people that we were going to recommend him to, his smile re-emerged. By the time we put our bikes together and paid Oleh for all of his time and support, we'd become best friends all over again! CHECK :-)

A few lessons learned ...

1) It's difficult working your way against the foot traffic of 10000 marathoners who have just completed 42 km and are anxious to find their spouse, partner, children, parents, medic, anyone that they know.
2) Those working in the service sector (waiters, clerks, Oleh) don't always -- or maybe ever -- believe that the "customer is right". They have never been taught to say thank you. The guidebook warned us that they can quite often appear rude or grumpy. Perhaps a remnant of having been communist governed from 1948 until 1990.
3) Czech craftsmanship is as good as anything we can compare it to in North America. Every detail is finished well.
4) Czech women like to appear well-dressed. Czech men? ... Not so much.

Enjoy some of today's tourist sites. Tomorrow morning we start on the bikes to Český Krumlov.

John Lennon "Imagine" wall

Homage to mothers ... "In Utero" sculpture by David Cerny

View of city rooftops from Prague Castle

Keep smiling & keep cycling!

Praha - Prague

Traveling, by definition, is an adventure. Traveling 24 hours to get from Victoria (Point A) to Prague (Point B) is an adventure and a half. Once we saw the ramp agent bring our bike boxes into the oversize baggage claim, all of our concerns disappeared.

One day into our vacation and everything has been terrific. First - of course - the bikes arrived. Second, Oleh from Praha Bikes was at the airport to meet us (more of this in a little bit). Third, our AirBnB apartment is amazing. Fourth, the day walking around Prague and discovering its beauty and charms. And last but not least ... The beer!

Back to Praha Bikes & Oleh. When we were thinking about cycling Prague - Vienna - Budapest, we looked at a number of bicycle tour companies that offer group rides and solo assisted rides. One of those (and the only local one) was Praha Bikes. After a few emails with Oleh, we decided to go it on our own - unassisted but ... we asked Oleh if his company would do 4 things for us:

1) pick us up at the airport. Take us to our apartment. Take the bikes in their boxes to Praha Bikes. CHECK :-)
2) store our bike boxes for 3 weeks until we return to Prague from Budapest.
3) provide one of his bike guides to lead us out of the city, and send us on the right Greenways route to Tabor, and
4) drop us with our bikes back in their boxes at the airport when we leave.

We were thrilled to see Oleh's smiling face upon arrival. (Perhaps we were just a little surprised too).

Today and tomorrow are our "tourist in Prague" days. We've discovered much of the Old City on foot, negotiating 400 year old cobblestone streets. Tomorrow is the Prague Marathon and, guessing by the number of really fit looking people that we saw today, the marathon route should be very busy. We'll likely head uphill for a visit to Prague Castle, and perhaps an organized city tour, either by boat or by bus.

All in all, 4 stars!

Prague - ready or not, here we come!

The most difficult part of planning a vacation must be wait time between readiness and departure. I think that this spring, the wait has been excruciating. Jude & I began planning this trip about 10 months ago. Not the serious ... "let's map the route" stuff, but serious ... "let's book the flights" stuff. That's when the waiting began.

Fast forward to April, and a big snowfall at Mount Washington. Big, heavy, west coast powder. The stuff that really fat skis were designed for. Also, knee twisting, ligament ripping powder. You guessed it. One ski stuck in the muck and Jude loses both her ACL and most of her MCL.

The doc's (ER physician, GP, SportsMed & Orthopod surgeon) generally agree that the bike trip, duh, likely won't happen. But, they hadn't yet met up with two determined cyclists (with non-refundable airfare). Truth is, cycling is probably the best physiotherapy that you can apply to ripped up knees. Match the cycling with a humongously expensive knee brace and, we're "good to go"!

A week from today we will be in Prague beginning our travels down the Greenways toward Vienna and then slowly along the Danube to Budapest. We will endeavour to keep our families and friends informed and as involved in our adventure as we can. We will take lots of pictures!

The Surly's are tuned up and after a ride in Victoria tomorrow, we'll box them up and leave them in the capable (fingers crossed) hands of British Airways.

Keep smiling & keep riding! More to come ...